Tips

I prefer to eat this as a soup with a bit of brown rice or croutons, and my husband prefers to eat it as a stew and scoop it up with pita bread.

It goes very well with yogurt salad or eggplant salad.

Directions

1. Heat a pan with oil.

2. Chop onions and add to pan. Sautee for about 5 minutes on low heat until translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute.

3. Add red lentils and cook until lentils turn lighter in color.

4. Add remaining vegetables and water. Add lemon juice. The lemon helps the lentils to break down and decreases the starchy taste.

5. If using a pressure cooker allow to cook for 10 minutes.

Otherwise allow to cook on a low boil for 25-30 minutes.

6. Add spices and let simmer for another 10-15 minutes. After about 10 minutes check taste and add more spices as needed. I never measure spices so I'm not exactly sure how much is needed, but the proportions are about right.